Why We Care About Jimmy Kimmel

Last night, Jimmy Kimmel, the host of ABC’s late night show, attacked the latest Congressional bill that would undo much of the Affordable Care Act. Back in May, Kimmel, in a speech that went viral, offered a tearful speech about his newborn son needing surgery for a heart defect and the costs of healthcare.

Charisse L’Pree, assistant professor of communications at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, explains why many people care about celebrities even though they may never meet in person.

“Audiences develop a relationship with media figures, especially the ones that visit them in their home every day, such as TV anchors or nightly talk show hosts. This is generally referred to as a parasocial relationship, a one-way relationship wherein audience members feel an affinity for and trust the media figure, similar to that of a real relationship, even though the media figure does not know the individual. Lots of research has demonstrated that the strength of this parasocial relationship can impact individual attitudes and even behavioral outcomes,” says L’Pree.

“Given the lack of regular interaction with politicians, audiences tend to develop a stronger parasocial relationship with regular media figures than their representatives*, thus providing context to the audience reaction to the Kimmel’s original story about his son’s surgery, and his recent outrage,” says L’Pree

“Kimmel’s response to these decisions are personal to Kimmel, and like a close family member, they are in turn personal through association for his audience. I do not think it is as simple as saying that Kimmel is impacting people’s attitudes about the healthcare proposal, but rather that audiences now have a personal context (from someone they care about) to talk about and understand a large and unwieldy policy. Audiences may demand more information because it affects someone they care about,” says L’Pree.

“Those who voted for Cassidy may also be experiencing cognitive dissonance. By voting for someone, we actively engage with a candidate, which impacts our interpretations of the candidate’s actions moving forward; and when they do something that we don’t like, we feel particularly tortured (consider the phenomenon of buyer’s remorse). Although audiences may not have the same parasocial relationship with Cassidy that they do with Kimmel, they experience frustration from this dispute similar to that of fighting friends or family members,” says L’Pree.

*This is part of the unique nature of Donald Trump; he was entering audiences’ homes every week for 14 years. Furthermore, this relationship becomes more intimate with digital and social media; Trump’s presence in one’s feed alongside their family and friends allows individuals to embrace a relationship with someone that they have never met.

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